Tech

MySpace Is Dead. Long Live Myspace.

The new Myspace, which first came online in late 2012 as a music-discovery service with the support of Justin Timberlake, officially launches to the public today. At the same time, the old capital-S MySpace is no more, departing for that big social network in the sky (although all user content will still exist on the new site).

With the launch of the new Myspace comes a new app for iPhone, finally adding the big missing component to the service: a mobile experience. With a mobile app, support from artists, growing positive buzz and "classic" MySpace out of the way, new owners Tim and Chris Vanderhook think they have the ingredients — and the momentum — to make Myspace an online force again.

"One artist in particular, Steve Angello, summarized what we were really focused on," explains Tim (left, in the photo above). "He said, 'MySpace used to be my home. Most artists want it to be their home on the web, but I want a single place to house my profile, music, videos and fans, and a feedback system to make me better at what I do.' That sums up the vision of Myspace."

Myspace for iPhone is a free download, and includes an ad-supported radio service, but with a twist. Instead of using an algorithm that builds custom radio stations based on songs and user preferences à laPandora or iTunes Radio, Myspace relies on its users — which includes many artists — to create stations.

"It's called My Radio," says Tim. "There's a ton of radio services trying to solve discovery through algorithms. We've given everyone on our platform their own radio station. You can go on the desktop, program what you want people to listen to. You become the DJ. It's for regular people all the way up to Justin Timberlake."

"They're hugely popular," Chris says, "but we kept noticing the creation of GIFs wasn't that accessible to people. As easily as you can take a photo, we're including a way for people to create their own GIFs."

Since its initial rollout and open beta, Myspace has incorporated some user feedback to tweak the service. If you found the design and iconography a bit perplexing (as I did), there are now more signposts and tutorial "cards" to help out first-time users. And lest you think it features only material from well-known artists, it's made a concerted effort to put up-and-comers into the mix.

"People are freaking out over the fact that we're actually lending our most expensive real estate — the homepage — and promoting them," Chris says.

Although the Vanderhooks are proud of the social-music experience they've created, it's clear they have even bigger dreams for Myspace. Tim says the service as it exists today is the "tip of the iceberg," although he refocuses on the here-and-now after I remind him about the (so far unfulfilled) promises Myspace made about introducing a second-screen TV experience a year and a half ago.

"For us, it's about staying focused on music and really ensuring that we deliver a winning experience," he says. "I can't really say when we'll start to broaden that scope, but if we stay focused we'll be successful and that will allow us bigger opportunities."

Over all the gung-ho talk, the stigma of classic MySpace casts a deep shadow. Can the new Myspace really get people to think of it as anything other than an ancient social network they'd like to forget about?

"There's no fancy marketing campaign that will change that overnight," admits Chris. "We pay a lot of attention to what the sentiment is toward the brand, and when we acquired MySpace we were at over 90% negative. But if you look on Twitter today, it's over 80% positive. And we're not doing any marketing — just focusing on product that serves the artist community."

How do you like the new Myspace? And do you think it will be able to cast away its stigma as a failed social network? Let us know in the comments.

The New Myspace: A Review

The New Myspace: Opening Screen

Myspace is all-new, and it's all about making music social. The new site is backed by Justin Timberlake and incorporates many elements of modern web design, particularly an emphasis on visual media. Although the site excels at discovery, its iconography is sometimes perplexing.

User Profile

Myspace's design is based on a horizontal scroll, which incorporates a news feed of your updates and those of other users and artists you're following. Cover photos must be high quality, and your playback queue (seen on the bottom) is always present. If you mouse over the queue, as in this screenshot, album covers appear.

Profile Settings

Setting up your profile thankfully doesn't take long, and you can use your Twitter or Facebook accounts to log in. You can also log into the new site with your "MySpace Classic" info.

Identity

Myspace asks a little about your background and interests, which determines the areas on the site where like-minded users can find you.

Privacy Settings

The new Myspace keeps privacy settings simple, at least for now.

Music Discovery

Finding artists and songs to connect with is easy once you figure it out.

Creating a Mix

The site encourages you to create and share playlists, called Mixes. You can make them private, too.

Search

Just start typing anywhere, anytime on the site to begin a search -- very convenient.

Browsing People

Not sure where to start on Myspace? Browsing people in your area or who share your interests is as good a place as any.

Your Connections

You can browse the users and artists you've connected with very easily. The site's layout is clean throughout.

Trending

The Trending page has many articles on various entertainment topics, but would probably be better served by an aggregator.

Article Page

Here's what an article looks like -- very similar to the news apps in Windows 8.

Sharing a Song

Myspace puts the focus on what you're sharing in any moment, pushing the rest of the site to the background.

Connecting and Affinity

The icons that represent the nature of your connection with people are a little confusing at first, though the "affinity" you have with someone else is arguably more helpful.

Video Playback

Videos take up you're whole browser window, but if you navigate away they get reduced to a smaller pop-up window, with no interruption in playback.

What's Hot

More in Tech

What's New

What's Rising

What's Hot

Mashable
is a leading global media company that informs, inspires and entertains the digital generation. Mashable is redefining storytelling by documenting and shaping the digital revolution in a new voice, new formats and cutting-edge technologies to a uniquely dedicated audience of 42 million monthly unique visitors and 24 million social followers.